Come Wake Me Up
by shmielthemanofsteel
Summary: "I woke up this morning and I didn't know where I was. The last thing I remember is the dream I supposedly had, and it ended with me and Ziva in a car accident." Tony loses his memory. Lots of Tiva.
1. Chapter 1

"_Ziva!"_

_He felt himself falling into unconsciousness, but he needed to hold her. His hand reached to where it had been only moments before, but his fingers only brushed hers and fell away…_

Tony awoke, heart beating wildly in his chest. Once he got his bearings, he looked at where he was. He was not in the car. He was not in his room. He was definitely not in a hospital. _Is this Ziva's room?_ He racked his brain trying to figure it out until he felt something shift next to him.

"What's wrong, babe? Leaving already?" A sweet voice pouted beside him. He looked over to see a 20- something blonde underneath the covers.

"Uh, yeah I-uh, I need to get to work."

"Okay. Call me later?"

"Sure." Tony lied as he slipped into his clothes and out of the apartment.

Finally outside, Tony surveyed his surroundings, trying to locate his car. What the hell was that back there? He was just in a serious car accident. Maybe… maybe he was in a coma or lost his memory. That still wouldn't make sense. It would have been Ziva lying next to him, and he was positive that wasn't her apartment.

"Ziva." He mumbled to himself. Now he was beginning to worry. Maybe she died in that crash. Maybe it's been years and he's moved on already. _No. Don't think like that, Anthony. _He mentally chided himself. Tony found a newspaper stand and bought one so that he could see what day it was, or year.

"Unbelieveable, I tell ya! Yankees lost last night! To the Cubs! Since when does that happen?" the vendor ranted. For a second, Tony shared the man's disappointment, but then he remembered his task. It was late May, 2013. _Ok, at least I'm still in the same year. _

At last, he found his car and got in. It was his old Mustang, the one that was blown up years ago. Immediately, he thought something was hinky, especially when he saw his Baltimore PD badge and not his NCIS one. So he put it in drive and headed down to the Navy Yard, where he was certain everything would still be the same.

He flashed his badge at the front entrance, claiming he was working a joint case with Special Agent Gibbs and was granted access. His heartbeat rose faster and faster as the elevator climbed up to the floor he was so familiar with. Sighing, he got off and walked to the bullpen.

A brunette head faced him and McGee sat at his normal desk. Nobody was sitting at his desk, but it was obviously occupied. Tony looked closer at the brown hair and realized that it wasn't Ziva's, causing his heart to sink, but it jumped again when he realized who it was.

"Kate?" he asked as he stopped in front of her desk.

The woman looked up, confused. She didn't recognize him. "Can I help you?" she asked slowly.

"Yeah, uh, Tony DiNozzo, Baltimore PD. I need to, uh, speak with Special Agent Gibbs."

"He should be up in a minute. How did you know my name?"

"I don't know your name."

"You just said Kate."

"Oh yeah, that. You reminded me of someone I knew whose name was Kate. But she died, that's why I sounded so hopeful. Just a coincidence."

"Don't believe in them." Gibbs stated as he strode into the room carrying his coffee. _Great, at least Gibbs is the same. _Tony thought.

"I need to talk to you, Gibbs." He said.

"Says he's with Baltimore PD." Kate supplied.

"Alright. Speak."

Tony lowered his voice. "In private."

"Conference room's upstairs." Gibbs led Tony to the elevator. Once inside, Tony shut it down, making Gibbs give him his full attention.

"I learned that from you. You also taught me your rules and how to survive on coffee. The only thing you didn't ever teach me was how to get that damn bat out of your basement."

"I remember you, DiNozzo, but I don't remember ever teaching you anything. We worked together for a short time, about twelve years ago. It was your partner, Danny Price."

"Then you offered me a job here. I took it. Two years later, Kate joined the team, and McGee joined after another year. Then Kate died and Ziva came and-"

"No, you turned down my offer. None of that stuff ever happened."

"See, that's my problem! I woke up this morning and I didn't know where I was. The last thing I remember is the dream I supposedly had, and it ended with me and Ziva in a car accident." Tony's eyes pleaded for Gibbs to understand. Gibbs nodded, allowing him to continue. Tony filled him in with all that happened in the span of twelve years. When he was done he watched his boss quietly. Gibbs saw truth in Tony's words. He couldn't just kick him out on the curb, especially not when Tony said he was like a father to him.

"Okay. We'll figure this out together."


	2. Chapter 2

The two men exited the elevator and headed back to the familiar cluster of desks. Gibbs gave out marching orders. "You can sit at Burley's desk for now. He's been out in Europe following a lead. Kate, I need you to call your sister. Tony wants his head checked."

"My sister?"

"Yeah. Did I stutter?"

"No, I- I just didn't know you knew about her."

"I don't. But he does." Gibbs jabbed his thumb in Tony's direction before heading towards the back elevator.

"How do you know Rachel?" Kate asked as soon as Gibbs was gone.

"She came two years ago to give us our psych evals. Then she came last year when I was shot and… she helped me through a rough patch. What's the password for Burley's computer?"

"We don't know. And you don't have clearance." Kate replied coldly.

"That's refreshing- you haven't changed a bit, Kate!" Tony smiled jokingly, though deep down he was glad that her personality hadn't changed.

"If you need a psychological evaluation, Dr. Mallard could perform it." She stated in the same unwelcoming tone.

"Oh, I know. Just wanted a second opinion, and I wasn't sure if Ducky got his degree in reality. So, McGee, can you hack this?"

The younger agent looked between his co-worker and the mysterious new guy who seemed to know everything, confused as to whether he should respond or not.

"How would you know if I know how to hack anything?" he pondered, slowly.

"C'mon, McGee, I've seen you hack the CIA and counteract a hack on the Pentagon. Hacking Stan's computer should be nothing!"

"McGee, we can't trust this guy!" Kate hissed.

"If Gibbs trusts him, I think we should, too." The agent responded. Before he could get to the computer though, Abby walked in.

"Hey! Gibbs told me there was a visitor! I'm-"

"Abby Sciuto, I know." Tony interrupted.

"Oh wow, you _do_ know everyone. Amazing…"

"Abs, I got a favor to ask you."

The scientist smiled, "Sure, what is it?"

"Can you look into the Mossad database and find Ziva David?" he pleaded.

"Alright. Scoot over." Abby went to work, fingers flying across the keys. Kate continued to watch Tony cynically.

"What?" he asked when he noticed her staring.

"I'm still not sure if I can trust you. You seem…"

"Unstable? Hinky? Odd? I swear I'm telling you guys the truth."

"Got it!" Abby exclaimed as she pulled up Ziva's records.

"That was fast. So? Where's Ziva?" Tony wondered.

Abby was quiet as she stared at the screen.

"Abs?" McGee tried to get her attention.

"Uh, Tony…Ziva David…is dead."


	3. Chapter 3

"_Ziva David is dead."_

Abby's words hit deaf ears. Tony stared at her, uncomprehending. He refused to accept that as the truth. She was his ninja. His crazy, invincible ninja. Ziva couldn't be dead.

But yet she was.

When the one thing you put your entire being into gets crushed in an instant, you're left with two choices. You can sit down and become a self- pitying, self- loathing heap. Or you can stand up and keep moving. You can look at the reality in front of you and refuse to accept it. And the latter is exactly what Tony did.

He was, after all, the wildcard.

He got up from his seat and proceeded to pace between the small cluster of desks. His mind was racing with theories as to what really happened to Ziva. Gibbs strolled in and stopped him in his tracks. "DiNozzo. She's gone."

"No. No she's not. It's just a cover that Mossad created for her. They do that all the time!" He breathed. There was a brief moment of silence, but before anyone could counter him, an idea popped into Tony's mind. "I need to go to Israel."

"How the hell are you gonna do that?" Kate challenged. "You can't go under NCIS, Morrow would never allow that. And if you went on your own, where would you go and how would you pay for it?"

"She's right." Gibbs agreed, staring Tony straight in the eyes, causing Tony to divert his eyes. Even in this reality, Gibbs's blue-eyed stare was still just as unnerving and bore into him.

"I need to talk to Eli David. It says that she was killed in the field in hand- to-hand combat."

"So?" Kate implored.

Tony laughed at that. "Ziva could take down a man five times her size. She infiltrated a terrorist camp singlehandedly. Sure, she ended up being held captive, but that's pretty impressive. If they're covering something up, she's probably in trouble. I need to help her!"

"Tony, calm down-" the older man started.

"No! I need- I need to-" he stuttered.

"You need to what? Why do you need this woman so badly? Even if she is alive, she's not the same person she was in your dream!"

"I honestly don't give a crap." Tony sighed, suddenly tired. He really should have gotten more sleep last night- if only he could remember his life before this morning. "No matter who she is now, she needs to get away from Mossad and her father. He's an asshole who raised his children like pigs for the slaughter. He raised them to be weapons and killers. Ziva needs saving from that. It's too late for Tali and I don't know what happened to Ari, seeing as Kate's alive."

"What are you talking about? There's no record of an Ari in Ziva's family and how would it tie into Kate's life?" Burley inquired, walking into the bullpen.

"It's a long story. But Ari Haswari is Ziva's half-brother. Eli hid the bloodline so that Ari could be a spy in Hamas and eventually Al Qaeda."

"Ari Haswari…why does that name sound so familiar? Maybe you would know, Kate." Burley teased.

"Shut up." She muttered.

"Am I missing something?" Tony wondered.

He was ignored as Kate glared at Stan, who innocently smiled back.

"Yeah, uh… Kate went out with Ari awhile back. Turns out he used her to infiltrate NCIS for a Mossad Op." McGee suppled.

Tony smiled at the thought of Kate and Ari before going back to more pressing matters. "So you knew he was Mossad but not that he was related to the David's? Well, where can I find him?"

"I heard he quit Mossad and became a CI for the FBI." Gibbs responded.

"Where?"

"Here. In DC."

"Great!" Tony exclaimed, grabbing his coat. "I'll go-"

"No, you won't. You're going downstairs to have a chat with Ducky. Then we'll see if you're cleared to go out in the field." Gibbs interrupted.

And with that, the first sliver of hope Tony had had all day was temporarily put on hold.


	4. Chapter 4

Tony crossed the street to a coffee shop. He hadn't been off the Navy Yard long as he thought about his teatime with Ducky.

_Anthony, I believe you're in perfect mental health. Perhaps you watch too many movies-"_

"_No such thing as to many movies."_

"_Yes, well your imagination is quite vivid- though I highly doubt that your 'dream' was merely a figment of your imagination."_

"_So you believe me?"_

"_I believe… some things just can't be explained. Dr. Cranston will double check when she comes in."_

He'd shot out of the building as soon as the doctor said they were finished. It was great to be out of the stuffy office and into the fresh spring air. McGee had pinged Ari's cell phone for him and, luckily, he was in this coffee shop a few blocks from NCIS headquarters. Tony spotted him seated at an outdoor table reading a newspaper and sipping coffee. He took that as an invitation to casually sit down across from him.

"I hear this is like winter in Israel."

Ari didn't look up from his paper when he responded, "It's colder, actually. But your spring isn't nearly as bad as your winter."

Tony chuckled, "Yeah, a friend of mine used to complain if it hit 38 . Said she missed that the most- warm winters. Hey! I think you might know her- her name's Ziva David."

This got his attention. "Ziva David is dead and she's never been to the States during the winter."

"I guess you're right about the second thing… but you sure lack emotion for a man who just lost his sister, Ari."

"You have proof of this…?"

"DiNozzo. Tony DiNozzo." Tony supplied.

"Tony." Haswari repeated.

"And no, I don't have proof. Just… a gut instinct. So, you know where she is?"

"No. Why?"

"Like I said, I'm a friend. I worry when I don't hear back from her."

"Who do you work for, Tony DiNozzo?" Ari asked slowly, leaning forward.

"Huh. Good question. Baltimore PD. Working on a… personal case with NCIS."

"Ah, NCIS." He mused. "How is Caitlyn?"

"More aggressive than I remembered."

"When was the last time you saw her?"

"2005. In reality, never."

"So 2005 was an alternate universe?"

"I guess you could say so. In this alternate universe, you killed her. Then Ziva killed you and joined NCIS. She was my partner for 8 years." Ari gave Tony a look that encouraged him to go on, so for the twentieth time that day he explained his story.

When he was done, Ari leaned back and took a long sip of coffee, his mind working to figure out what was next. Finally he spoke. "So you loved my sister?"

Tony scratched the back of his neck. "Yeah… I guess I do. At least, I did in my dream."

"Then I will help you." He whispered lowly. "Ziva is not dead. She's been part of a sleeper cell here under an assumed name for the past 2 years. I have decided that you are going to help me get her out of Mossad."

"Great. When do we start?"


	5. Chapter 5

Tony sat in the car, waiting for Ari's signal. It had taken a while for him to get past the fact that Ari wasn't the man he was in his… dream. Is that what he should call it? He had so much on his mind, he just settled with calling it a dream from now on. It was one less thing to think about.

As time passed, Tony came to realize that Ari wasn't such a bad guy after all. It had been five days since he confronted him at the coffee shop. Ari had weekly meets with Ziva and they had to wait until his next scheduled one to avoid suspicion. They spent almost all their time together, discussing everything and anything (but still keeping the main focus on Ziva), and Tony had only been to the Navy Yard once since the day he met Ari. Tony still remembered that day very vividly.

He had brought Ari in to compare notes with the team. Ari seemed to be a different person from the Ari Haswari in his dream. That was probably because this Ari wasn't an actual double agent who wanted to get revenge on Gibbs for shooting him and reminding him of Eli. Haswari still hated the mere mention of Eli David, but he quietly fumed about it, as opposed to lashing out. He was especially different around Kate, or maybe he had always been like that with her, Tony wouldn't know. He thought back to that day.

"_Hello, Caitlyn. It's good to see you again."Ari had greeted casually as he walked into the squad room. _

"_What do you want, Haswari?"_

"_Oh, nothing at the present. I'm actually here to talk to Gibbs."  
"Alright, kids, play nice!" Burley teased._

_Ari ignored this. "Gibbs. Why are you guys looking for Ziva?"_

"_DiNozzo here thinks she might be in trouble. Wants to find her."_

"_And confess his love!" Burley added._

"_Shut up." Tony muttered._

"_Yes, well Ziva is safe, as far as I know. She has gotten into a terrorist cell in Alexandria under an assumed name Mahala Awad. I meet with her for a couple of hours every Thursday. I can bring Tony along."_

"_Ok. And we can take down the cell."_

"_I don't think Mossad would like that."_

"_Oh well. Life's full of disappointments." Gibbs laughed._

He was pulled from his thoughts when his phone buzzed.

"Yeah, Tony." He mumbled.

"Dr. Cranston's just gotten in. You coming in to see her?" Gibbs grunted.

_Crap._ Tony thought. He had forgotten that she was coming in today. "Uh, sorry, but I'll have to reschedule. See, I'm waiting for Ari-"

"For that thing he was talking about?"

"Yeah, we're waiting for Ziva to come out."

"Do you need backup?"

"Uh… I don't know. It's not really my job to take down terrorists anymore. I mean, you guys can. Just have McGeek track my cell." He joked.

"Smartass." Gibbs muttered before hanging up.

Before Tony could surrender himself to his thoughts once more, he saw Ari approach the car.

"What? Where's Ziva? What about-" He immediately started firing out questions.

"I did not see her." Ari replied simply as he got in the car.

"Does…does that happen a lot?"

He shrugged, "Sometimes they are busy. It has been happening more often lately, though."

"Well doesn't she fill you in on what's going on?"

"Yes. They were planning on bombing the National Mall sometime this month."

"How did she get into the cell?"

"She offered her information in bomb making. But I believe they are beginning to suspect her. She has been a bit on edge the last few times I saw her." He replied, a bit more tensely.

"Where are they?"

"They have a warehouse not far from here, perhaps they went there."

"No harm in checking it out."

"Are you armed, DiNozzo?" Ari asked suddenly.

"Should I be?" He wondered.

Ari reached under his seat. "Here, take my backup- you never know what we might run into."

"Right. I'm gonna alert for backup." Tony decided as they drove toward the warehouse.


	6. Chapter 6

Tony was leaning against the car, lost in his thoughts once more, when he felt something shoved into his chest.

"Put it on." Gibbs grunted.

He wordlessly slipped on the Kevlar vest the silver haired man had handed him.

"Gibbs. I checked out the surrounding area. Someone is definitely in the warehouse working on something. We have to watch where we shoot- there are probably explosive materials everywhere." Ari supplied.

"Alright. Burley, take McGee around back. Kate, take the roof with Ari-"

"I'm not sure that's a good idea." She protested.

"Agent Todd, this isn't a debate! Tony, you're with me."

The group separated and headed toward their target. As they got closer, Tony could hear the sound of voices and power tools.

"We're in position." Jethro announced through his headpiece. He waited a moment, then motioned for Tony to throw in a flash- bang through the window.

The ambush was a blur at first, and between the flash- bangs, the shouting, and the few bullets fired, Tony was disoriented. Moments passed, his eyes adjusted, and the shouts reduced to only Gibbs, explaining what was going on to the men they found.

Tony snapped out of his head space. "Where is she?"

"Who?" One of the two men asked.

"Where is everyone? Where's Zi- where's Mahala?"

"They are gone! Daher took Mahala- I do not know where!"

"Well, you're still gonna have to go back and answer some questions for us." Gibbs explicated.

Tony stood in Observation with Dr. Cranston as Gibbs proceeded to grill the first man- Taj Darzi.

"So, Tony." She started. "What is it that you're looking for?"

"I'm looking for my best friend. My confidant. My partner. The woman that I went all the way to north Africa to avenge. All I ever did was try to keep her safe, protect her, but it just… never seems to work out. I- heh, nice one, Doc. You got me talking." He smirked.

"Well, that _is _my job. Did you ever tell her all these things?"

"I…no. Not- not directly. I tried to show it, but…but we had this unspoken agreement to never cross that line, I guess. Maybe this is the universe's version of a wake-up call."

"I don't know… this Ziva David. She seems reckless, destructive. Insensitive."

Tony chuckled. "She was reckless in a way that she paid no regard to her own safety. Ziva was a soldier and a Mossad officer. It was drummed into her that missions and ops were very serious and came before anything. She could cause lots of damage to a man five times her size. Full of fire and spirit- a true warrior. She wasn't insensitive, though. She occasionally lacked tact, but underneath that Mossad exterior she surrounded herself in, and not far beneath the surface, she was empathetic and had a huge heart. She was especially soft around children. It's like she was a whole other person around them-a person full of maternal instinct, and then there's me who's scared of kids. But she helped me grow out of that in a way."

"What was your relationship like? Were either of you abusive?"

"For a while, we didn't like each other much. We'd argue, we'd get jealous. But if anything, she was the abusive one. She'd smack my arm, she'd offend me, and the worst abuse of all was that she made me love her more every day without even trying. She could never see how she could possibly deserve any special treatment or affection- from any of us. She always- her past always haunted her. But really, she deserved nothing short of everything."

"Wow-"

Rachel was cut off by a tap on the window. That meant Gibbs had something.

He met them back in the bullpen. "Darzi said they had become suspicious of Ziva- or Mahala Awad- especially their leader, Daher. They have a safe house out in Rockville and that's where Daher and Awad were headed."

"So we're going there?" Ari asked.

"Not yet. We're gonna need more manpower- Daher's not alone."

"How many of them are there?"

"About 15, but they're heavily armed and if we just bust through the door, we might compromise the safety of David, assuming it's a captive situation." Burley replied for Gibbs.

"McGee, call Fornell. We could use his people."


	7. Chapter 7

It was a sunny day, with a slight breeze. Everything was quiet. Take out the big vans and agents with bulletproof vests and guns, and the whole scene would be a picture perfect neighborhood.

Tony wasn't allowed to join in all the fun. He was given strict orders to stay in the car while everyone else stormed the property. He watched as the mass of people broke off into smaller groups.

It was all very quiet. Once the teams were in place, a signal was given and flash bangs were thrown in. Then all hell broke loose. Shots were fired. Shouts could be heard. There were loud crashing sounds- presumably furniture and weapons. Then it was quiet once more. Gibbs was the first to come out, with him a very large, muscular man in cuffs. Other agents followed with more terrorists.

The cop watched carefully, waiting for Ziva to come out. His heart nearly stopped when an agent shouted for someone to get an ME, but then he saw her.

Burley escorted her towards one of the vans and offered her a shock blanket, which she refused. He then led her to another car and drove back towards the Navy Yard. Minutes later, Gibbs slid into the driver's seat of the car Tony was in and headed the same way.

The whole ride back, Tony couldn't help thinking about Burley. No matter what universe they were in, Tony would always be wary of Stan when it came to Ziva. _He_ should have been the knight in shining armor who stormed in to save the damsel in distress.

The only problem was, Ziva wasn't a damsel in distress. She never was and never will be. _She's more like a POW- a soldier taken captive, _Tony thought.

"When did Stan get here?" he asked abruptly.

"Two weeks ago. You were there. Remember?" Gibbs watched Tony carefully.

"No- yeah, I remember but I mean- you said he was in Europe. How'd he get back so fast?"

"He was already coming home on transport when you showed up."

"But the lead he was following-"

"Dead end. It's a cold case now." The Marine cut off, closing the subject.

Before he knew it, they were back at NCIS. Gibbs was allowing Tony to talk to Ziva first, so the Baltimore cop trekked up to the conference room.

When he opened the door, he saw her. She paced the room, looking just like his last memory of her, except her posture suggested she was more fiery and deadly, and maybe a bit cocky still. Old Ziva.

He dove right in. "Hi, I'm Tony DiNozzo. You can sit down-"

"Why am I being held here? I've done nothing wrong." She interrupted.

"No, you haven't. You're a vi- you're a witness. You were involved with the bad guys down stairs because you were working undercover for Mossad. Anyway, this is a conference room- see, its even got complimentary coffe and water! This is where we bring allies, to chat."

"So what shall we chat about, Agent DiNozzo?" Ziva sat down across from him and squinted, almost as if she were trying to place him.

"Oh, I'm not an agent here. See-"He pointed to the clip on his suit pocket," I have a visitors pass. I'm just working with the team and your brother, Ari. He's a cool guy. You helped him out a while back when _he _was undercover for Mossad! I'm actually a cop with Baltimore PD. I led the search for you. I'd tell you the full story of why I'm here, but it's really long-"

"Tony." She cut him off again, eyes wide. "Yes, I remember you- from the hotel!"

"What now?"

"Eight years ago, when I was here helping Ari, you were at the hotel I was staying at and we had sex."

"W-we did?"

The Israeli furrowed her brow, confused. "If you do not remember, then how is it you knew me?"

"I… I don't remember the past twelve years of my life. Turns out I dreamed up an alternate universe and in it you've been my partner here at NCIS for the past eight years. You had helped me grow up and I guess I helped you some with opening up about… things. I know about Tali and the opera. I know about Orli and Bodner and Shmiel. You had told me about them."

"What do you know about Tali and the opera?"

"Your sister, Tali, died when she was 16. In honor of her, every year you go to the opera on her birthday because she used to go around singing Puccini. You said that even your father's eyes would well up."

"Why would I have told you this?"

"Because we were friends, I guess."

"If it was all a dream, then how do you know all this?"

Tony shrugged, "I ask myself the same question."

Before she could think of something else to say, McGee walked in.

"Hello, I'm Special Agent Timothy McGee. I have a few questions to ask you regarding your operation."

"Sorry, but you would need clearance from Mossad. I cannot divulge any information until you do." Ziva replied coolly, reclining in her seat.

"Our director just got off a video conference with your father, Director David. He told us that you would brief us."

"My job was to get inside the cell. I got in by offering my knowledge in bombs and detonators. For the past eight months we have been planning an attack on the white house."

"Sounds pretty vague." McGee raised his eyebrows.

"They did not completely trust me. I was left out of the specifics of the operation."

"And how big was this bomb?"

"Large enough to wipe up a shipyard."

"Wipe out." Tony corrected once more, starting to enjoy himself.

"Yes that too." She replied flatly.

"Well we know their locations and we have most of them in custody. You are free to leave the Navy Yard." McGee gathered his files and left the room.


End file.
